


Spoon?

by sbuggbot



Category: SteamWorld Quest (Video Game)
Genre: Chronic Pain Headcanon, Don't copy to another site, Father Figure, Fluff, Found Family, Gen, Spoon Theory, Team Dad Orik
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-03
Updated: 2019-07-03
Packaged: 2020-06-03 04:24:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 943
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19456300
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sbuggbot/pseuds/sbuggbot
Summary: On a low-energy day, Orik says he's out of spoons. Thayne takes him literally.





	Spoon?

**Author's Note:**

> Since my last fic kinda wound up more Tarah-focused I figured I'd balance it out with a more Thayne-focused oneshot and toss in a couple of headcanons for good measure. And spoon theory because I can (not a 'traditional' spoonie myself but I'm neurodivergent so it's still applicable to my life).

Orik was laying on the couch, a hot pack on his bad arm. He was disabled and had chronic pain, but his good days far outnumbered his bad ones. Today was a bad day, unfortunately. His joints ached no matter how he laid or how he moved.

They'd been aching all day. Usually, when Orik woke up sore he was fine after getting up and moving around some (and maybe painkillers), but the pains came back this time, especially when the weather turned south. The weather usually didn’t even bother him! As if that wasn't enough, his arm had spasmed and tensed up painfully not too long ago. 

That had been the last straw and what made him stop since taking it easy evidently wasn't enough right now. Even though the others were plenty understanding and didn't mind, Orik still found the situation bothersome.

Thayne came over and seemed to want Orik to follow so he could show him something. “I'm really sorry, Thayne, but I just can't,” he said regretfully. “I'm out of spoons and I can't really get up…”

Thayne's ears drooped. “Okay…” he said, shuffling off.

Orik couldn't deny the fact that he felt bad turning Thayne away. There wasn't anything he could really do, though--if he tried pushing himself through it today it would just make tomorrow harder.

Thayne returned a couple minutes later, carrying a handful of spoons. “I got you some more!” he said, beaming with pride. 

He stared at the bundle, confused. Something wasn't clicking in Orik's head. He chalked it up to forgetting words in his fatigued state. Even though he had lived in Alsyhidia for the majority of his life, the local language technically wasn't his first. “I...don't understand?”

“You said you were outta spoons, so I got you some more!”

_ Ohhh, that's it! _ He started chuckling despite himself but stopped before he accidentally hurt Thayne's feelings. “Not that kind of spoon.”

Thayne looked down at the spoons, confused. What other kind of spoon, then?

“It's a metaphor,” Orik explained. “Each thing you do costs a certain amount of spoons, and you only get so many in a day.”

Since the spoons were already there, he began laying out tasks and how many spoons they might cost as an example. Thayne commented on the fact that some of them don't seem to cost anything to him.

“They might not cost any for you, or maybe you have so many that you don't even notice. Some people have more than others--”

Copernica walked by. “Pretty sure Armilly has an infinite supply,” she added.

Orik couldn't resist a laugh despite the interruption. “Technically impossible, but she's pretty close! Anyway, some have more spoons than others, and some days you might have more or fewer spoons than you normally do. Admittedly, I probably pushed myself too hard yesterday, so I'm paying the price today.” 

Thayne curled his arms toward his chest as he took it all in. “Can I do anything to help?”

“Actually, I think you can…” He took the hot pack off his bad arm, it should have been there long enough now. “See if you can help stretch my arm out? Sometimes I need someone to tug on it because I can't get it to move on my own.”

Thayne took his arm and tentatively pulled on it. Orik's arm was still tensed up so it resisted Thayne's tugging. He paused. “I don't wanna hurt you,” Thayne mumbled. Seeing Orik like this was a sharp reminder that he was destructible and it scared him a bit.

“I'll tell you if you need to stop, it's alright.”

Thayne continued, but only for a few moments before he saw that Orik was in more pain now. “I'm hurting you!” he barked, dropping Orik's arm.

Orik couldn't hide the grimace from his arm curling right back up like a spring. “Alright, it does hurt some,” he admitted, “but I know what it's supposed to feel like and it really does help. Just trust me, I'll tell you if it starts hurting the wrong way.”

“Uhm, okay…” Thayne started tugging on his arm again, trying his best to ignore Orik's grimacing. He just had to trust his word that he wasn't doing it wrong...

There was a loud POP and any tension in Orik's arm disappeared. (And the rest of him too, actually.) Thayne let go of his arm. “Oh no, I broke it, didn't I?”

“No, you fixed it. Thank you.” Orik shifted and settled his arm back in its makeshift sling. “Sometimes one of the parts in my shoulder gets stuck in the wrong spot and it makes my whole arm spasm.”

Thayne was visibly relieved to hear that he hadn't made the problem worse. “So it's better now?”

“Much, my joints still hurt but it's more bearable without my arm acting up too.”

There was a ruckus from down the hallway. Armilly walked in, holding a displeased Tarah upside down. “Thayne, can you do something about your goblin sister? She was digging under my mattress.”

“Dare I ask what for?” Orik said.

“I wanted to see if that's where Copernica started hiding her diary ‘cause I found it when she hid it in her own bed.”

“Sis, I thought she told you to stop reading it.”

“And I did! Now I just try to figure out where it's hidden.” It was a fun little game Tarah liked to play that Copernica probably wasn't in on.

Orik was trying not to smile since that would probably only encourage her. It was damned clever, though. “She would probably appreciate it if you left it alone.”

**Author's Note:**

> Aaand Tarah popped up at the end anyway because why not.
> 
> Come yell at me on my Tumblr if you want: [sbuggbot.tumblr.com](sbuggbot.tumblr.com)


End file.
